Page 24 of My Christmas Alien Mate

I didn't think she realized it, but she let out a deep sigh of relief, and I wondered why she didn't want to spend more time with her friends.

When I moved from one ship to another and ran into a group of old friends, we usually hung out for hours in one of the many spirit holes aboard the ships to catch up and get drunk. I realized that Amber's and my situations were a bit different, since she had been born and grown up here, but still, from what I gathered, she had been away for a while at college.

She must have noticed my questioning look and smiled wryly. "I don't feel so well and all these people… it's a bit much."

That, too, I could understand. Her cottage was very isolated. I didn't think she was used to being around this many people, and contrary to me, she didn't have any curiosity to satisfy by sticking around and observing the multitude of humans who seemed to come in all colors, except maybe red, green, and blue.

"We can go anytime you're ready," I offered.

She stuffed the rest of the hotdog into her mouth and wiped her lips before she rose. "If you're sure you're okay with it?"

I nodded. She did look tired, and we could come back another day.

It didn't take us quite as long to walk back to her car using the other side of the street, but I did manage to catch a few glimpses at what the various stores offered and hoped we would come back here soon.

Neither Adred nor my father would truly appreciate it, but I saw a few things I wanted to buy for them. Starting with a Charming shirt.

When we reached her truck, I asked, "Will you teach me how to drive this thing?"

"Absolutely, but not tonight. It's getting dark, and you don't have any identification if the cops pull us over."

Cops, my translator told me, were the authorities, but the question of identification threw me off, didn't they have data systems that would keep track of their people? Especially since this was just one planet? That would be easy to hack into for my father's computer specialists.

I opened Amber's door for her before I hopped over to the other side and took a seat on the old, worn-out seat. I swear, I felt a spring digging into my ass and adjusted how I sat.

I could have done it myself, but I intentionally fumbled with the seatbelt until Amber leaned over to help me again, which was exactly what I had hoped she would do. I had barely been able to contain myself when she had done so the first time around when she leaned over, so temptingly close to me that all I wanted was to kiss her again.

Her sweet scent enveloped me, and my cock, which had been stiff all day, twitched with desire for her.

When I looked up though, I noticed dark circles under her eyes. She looked tired.

We both forgot about the lock and chain, but this time, after asking for the code for the it, I jumped out of the truck before she could. The lock was primitive and opened quickly. I pulled the chain to the side and waited for Amber to drive through before I reengaged it. Then I buckled myself, and Amber took off before I had clicked it into place.

Her voice sounded tired, but she explained how the truck worked on our way out of town, which looked just as charming as the name said.

Twinkling lights, like the ones by Amber's house, decorated storefronts, the sides of the streets, were strung between street lanterns, over bushes, and really any place they would fit.

It could have looked tacky, but it didn't. Nothing in Charming did, expect maybe some of the tourists.

Attentively, I watched as Amber's foot engaged and disengaged what she called a clutch, gave it gas, and turned the wheel. Instinctively, my feet picked up what she showed me as I shadowed her moves. I memorized them, because I would be damned if I would allow her to chauffeur me around one more time, especially as tired as she looked.

She coughed a few times, and I noticed that she made some strange sucking sounds with her nose.

"Are you getting sick?" I asked.

"I think so." She gave me an apologetic look. "I'll be okay though. A few aspirin and a stiff tea along with a good night's sleep will do the trick. I'm sorry though because I don't think I'll be much company tonight."

"Don't worry. I need to write a report to my commander anyway." I waved her off.

"Oh yeah? What will it say? Met humans today, ate some hotdogs?" she teased.

"Something like that." I nodded. "It'll be a bit more technical and descriptive, like how your truck works and how humans interact with one another."

"Why do I not feel like a guinea pig?" she asked before her arm flew across my chest, and she hit the brakes.

I looked up to see an adorable animal standing in the street, staring at us with large, brown eyes, unmoving as if hypnotized.

The truck began to swerve to the side, but the animal still didn't move. I worried we would hit a tree as we skidded closer and closer toward the tree line.

---